EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Review (Opens June 29 from TBA Studios)

by Fanboy SEO · Published June 29, 2022 · Updated June 29, 2022

Here’s my Everything Everywhere All at Once review which is FINALLY coming to PH theaters starting June 29 from TBA Studios and A24 starring Michelle Yeoh and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert!

Watch the Everything Everywhere All At Once Trailer below:

Laugh, Love and Think

Before the technical thoughts, let me start this review off with my personal take. Yes the film was deep even if it looked silly, I did all three. Laugh. Love. Think. There’s just so many things going on in the film that it deserves a second viewing. The first one to get a grasp of the beautifully written story and a second to enjoy the easter eggs and references they put in the film.

The humor here comes from visual gags and sometimes the dialogue. And surprisingly, the funniest moments on the top of my head while writing this Everything Everywhere All At Once review was that fight scene with the two alpha agents and the trigger experience being something stuck up their butt. The second one was as irreverent parody of Disney’s Ratatouille involving a raccoon. Let’s leave it at that.

Multiverse of Madness

Honestly, its hard not to compare but I thoroughly agree with a lot of people that this film used the “multiverse” concept a lot better than Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. They played their card right too with actually taking time to develop the multiverse, what set it apart, and quickly injecting it into the ongoing story. For example, there’s a scene towards the end where Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) is fighting hopelessly and needed some extra firepower to kick butt and accesses the skills of an alternate Evelyn who trains her pinkie finger to fight and get good. We see a montage of familiar scenes with the key difference being variant Evelyn puts all her training on that pinkie (and it has effing muscles). Then that is injected into what’s happening and next thing we know, Alpha Evelyn is making enemies fly with just her pinkie finger.

Brilliant Casting

Michelle Yeoh isn’t the only great casting here. Everybody was great even the Hollywood actor with bit parts like Jenny Slate or Harry Shum Jr also play integral roles for the film. But the really outstanding one would have to be the returning Ke Huy Quan (Short Round from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) as Waymond Wang, Stephanie Hsu as Joy Wang aka Jobu Tupaki and James Hong as Gong Gong.

Ke Huy Quan did such an amazing job here channeling three different versions of the same person namely Alpha, Regular and CEO Waymond.

On top of that I loved that Quan was channeling other popular asian actors in his portrayal of these multiversal variants. Alpha Waymond was very Jackie Chan in his actions and mannerisms. CEO Waymond on the other hand was very Tony Leung from In The Mood for Love…

Plus their whole “landian” and heart-to-heart with actress Evelyn happens in a narrow alleyway, which is definitely a nod to the classic film.

Stephanie Hsu who plays Joy aka the film’s “villain” Jobu Tupaki

Hsu’s performance is also good, layered and nuanced although its a very formulaic but at least its got good writing. Her conflict is about her regrets and her anger towards her family, her disappointment and fear about her being a lesbian and being accepted by her parents and her grandfather.

And while James Hong (RIPD) had a more physical role in this movie, he’s also damn good when the scene required for tender moments.

And holy crap did I not see Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween, True Lies) play the role of Deirdre Beaubeirdre…

Not-so-maddening Multiverse

My big gripe about “Everything” is the fact that it could be confusing for a lot of viewers but it turns out, its rather easy to digest and understand. So by the time the fake credits roll, we already get how this works and how the story flows. But of course not everybody could get everything in one go. The story is intricate being able to balance to stories and interpesonal relationships between the number of characters i.e. Evelyn and Joy, Evelyn and Gong Gong, Evelyn and Waymond and so much more.

Sadness and Hope in any universe

“Everything, Everywhere All at Once” is a good movie to explain what sadness and joy is like with a dash of existential crisis thrown in the mix.

It examines what the depths of sadness and despair is and what it can lead to and how the people we love are the same ones who often give us the most grief.

On the flip side, the film also shows us what joy can do to accelerate healing and forgiveness. With happiness and joy and love we are capable of doing anything, stopping anything, tapping into things we never know we could and that’s my biggest take away from the film.

VERDICT:

10/10

Best movie for the year. Definitely on the top tier for 2022.

All photos and videos “Courtesy of TBA Studios / A24!

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